Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / In 2040 The First Dog President Of The US The New Book From Ken Ballen The Better Animal

Transcript

In 2040 The First Dog President Of The US The New Book From Ken Ballen The Better Animal · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know what's funny about podcasts listening today? It's being
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: treated just like radio once was. In, out, over here,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: over there. Did you hear about? Yeah, I did. But
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: what are you listening to and where can I find it?
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: How about if we design a website that gives you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: 21 different podcasts in one place? Arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net. And while
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: you're there, why not check out Music's Lost History? You
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: know the music, you know the artists, but can you
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: guess them before we share them with you? Music's lost history,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: only on Arrow.net. A-R-R-O-E dot net. Enjoy your exploration.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Good morning, this is Ken Ballin.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: How are you doing, Ken?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Good, how are you?
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely fantastic and very excited to share your story with
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: everybody who just wants to just escape for a moment.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Every age group is going to get into this book.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: You have to know that in your heart.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: I hope so. Although I'm not... I'm not sure it's
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: really meant for under 18, to be honest with you.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: So I think it's more geared to an adult audience.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I totally agree with that. And maybe it's just the
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: inner grandfather in me. But the thing is, I've been
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: talking about this at the grocery store that I work at.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: And I've been with the little ones. And I go,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: can you imagine? If we had a leader that was
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: a dog, are you kidding me? So and I think
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that if anything, it's going to create a conversation between
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the adult and the younger ages, especially those that love
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: their dogs as much as I do.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Well, there you go. It's definitely a dog lover's book,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: but it is not. Some people think of it as
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: a satire kind of a book. And it really is.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: It's satire in the broad political sense, the way Jonathan
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Swift or 1984 George Orwell, but it's not laugh-out-loud funny,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: and it's very serious, and it deals with a lot
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: of very serious manners, and it's not Brian the talking
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: dog from Family Guy either. The dog thinks, and the
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: dog has an intellect through many years of genetic engineering
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: and through AI and ability to talk and the year
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: is 2040 and the dog's thoughts are not human thoughts
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: they're really quite different so that's and that's why as
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: a dog says when she announces her campaign for president
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: The humans had screwed this up. It's time for a dog.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Well, see, and the reason why I got charged up
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: in reading the book was because, I mean, I've got
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: my own dog here who is with me at all times.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: She decides when we're going out for a walk. She
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: watches me like she's the mother and I'm the son.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: And I do have those conversations with her. So I
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: actually envision the better animal being my Jazzy Mae.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Well, there you go. I mean, I think it's everyone's
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: dog on some level. Yeah. But it's a dog with
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: incredible intelligence. You know, the thing about dogs that we
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: humans lack is this innate empathy. Yes. It's always there.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: They're forgiving. They're loving. They always feel you. Yeah. And
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: that's what we need as a president now. We need somebody,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: a leader who feels us, who has empathy, true empathy,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: and not in the dog. And we haven't found it
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: in humans so far. So there you go.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Well, let's give a big kudos to you and what
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: you've done here with Jake and Wing. And that is
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: their age group. And thank God that you do this because...
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: I tell you, some of the greatest friendships I've got
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: are those with the younger generation because, you know, first
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of all, they do have the vision. They do want
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to have a better America and they want to do
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: things in their life. And that's what I love about
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: this storyline is that age does not matter. Just be
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: together and dream together and then create in a way
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: that's going to affect other people.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: I think that's absolutely right. Age does not matter. You know,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: gender doesn't matter. Your ethnic or racial or religious feelings
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: don't matter. What matters is the quality. And the dog
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: can't distinguish those. The dog can't tell whether you're a
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Republican or a Democrat. The dog doesn't know whether you're,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: you know, from Europe or America or black or white
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: or Christian or Jewish. Those things don't matter to the dog.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: You know, what's really interesting about this is that with
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Kit and what I felt deep inside my heart, and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I totally agree with what you're saying, it does not matter.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: But what does matter to a dog is the fact
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: that when you've got something like this going on in 2040,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: all the corruption, we've got the Christians doing what the
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Christians are going to do. But the thing is, though,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: is that inside that dog's heart is the authentic thing
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: called forgiveness. I mean, instant forgiveness. And Kit is a
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: hero in my heart because of that.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: You're exactly right. That's what a dog can do. A
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: dog forgives you in a way that humans never. Humans
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: carry those feelings on, and it's very difficult for humans
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: to let go. A dog lets go immediately and forgives you.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: Early in the book, the dog announces its canine commandments
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: in place of the norm. They're 11, not 10. But
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: that's one of the commandments. Forgive humans. Me as I
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: forgive you. Yes. Yes.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Please don't move. We'll be right back with Ken Ballen
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: coming up next. The name of the book, The Better Animal,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the first dog to run for president of the United States.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: We are back with one half of the writing team,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Ken Ballen. You know, what's really interesting about you, Ken, is,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and I just felt like it was a full circle moment,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: is that when I learned that you were part of
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the Iran-Contra Committee, Back in those days, I was in
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: that newsroom saving everything. And to this day, that entire
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Iran-Contra affair and the trial is documented on cassette tapes.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: And so to be with somebody who was part of
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: that committee, it just blows me away because you understand
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the power of story sharing and not necessarily storytelling. because
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: you needed to do something in order to help keep
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: things together back then. And I, and I love your
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: political connectedness with, with kit in this storyline, because yeah, you,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: you've been there. You've seen a lot of stuff, dude.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Uh, I, indeed I had not only on Iran Contra,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: but subsequent to that, I was involved in a lot
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: of congressional investigations where I saw firsthand both the Congress
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and the presidency. And, you know, the, the, um, I'm
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: afraid to say this, but it's true. The corruption and
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the polarization, it all started back then. And it's been
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: with us for years. So it's not a new phenomenon.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: And that's why we really need to think about the
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: political world and what we do differently. And that's the
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: kind of seriousness of this book, because it takes the
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: dog seriously. It takes a dog seriously. And it it
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: gives us a different perspective on the kind of values
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: we need to go forward as a nation.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: I just love everything about this. In fact, one of
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: the things that I instantly went into, and God, this
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: is going to bring up my age, I think that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Kurt Russell should be Kit in the movie. Either that
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: or we get Johnny Depp with that kind of attitude
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: because I just feel that Kit, and that's the craziest
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: thing about being a reader. We get our own interpretation
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: of what Kit sounds like, their voice, and what your
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: voice sounds like in the story.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: And then, you know, and I think that that's part
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: of the connection between the writer and the reader is
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: that you allow us to envision something that we know
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: is impossible, but is it? I think that Kit could
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: be possible. I think it really could be possible. I mean,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: you know, in writing.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: This book, I talk to people who are involved in
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: genetics and dog breeding and also the kind of AI
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: that offers us hope. I know we're all scared of
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: AI and its potential at the moment. But, you know,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the research is happening not at these companies, but at
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: the university levels and enabling people. deaf people to hear,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: blind people to see. The potential for AI to do
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: some wonderful things is out there too. So it's not fun.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: You know, when I raised to them, you know, the
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: dog talking and all, and that's why I picked the
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: year 2040 because the experts in the field of the
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: breeding and genetics and also in AI thought that's very possible.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: That's a very doable date when this could actually really happen.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Well, you opened up my heart in the very beginning
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: when you brought up George Orwell's 1984, because I sat
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: back and I went, holy crap, that's exactly what I
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: was hoping you would say. Because it does, it gives
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: me something to hold on to for the future. Instead
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: of doing this constant look over our shoulder, you give
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: us something to look upward for.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Thank you. That's absolutely right. The book is actually a
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: very It contains tragedy in it and difficulties, but it's
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: actually a very optimistic book that we can have a
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: better tomorrow and that we're not doomed to repeating the
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: cycles that we have in the past.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Now, does Wu know that Wu's name actually means anonymous?
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: And I thought it was very strange that Kit is
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: not anonymous. So I thought it was very interesting that
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: one whose name is anonymous and yet Kit is very,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: very known. I just love that. It's like a Lennon
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: and McCartney moment in the writers of what's going on here.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, yes, that name was chose deliberately because if this...
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: they're like, and their family would be threatened that this
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: was public because they're from China and this kind of thing.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Literature is not tolerated. Oh, my God.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: But see, that's what I love about writing there, Ken.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Come on. As writers, we are what sets the motion.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: We have that ability. And I love it when people will...
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Even with Bill O'Reilly, I go into the past to
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: learn about my present. And that's exactly what this book is.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: It gives us that opportunity to say, we've lived that,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: but what would happen if Kit was our president?
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly right. And every book... about the past
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: and every book about the future is really about the present. Yeah. Right.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: I love where your heart is. But when you think
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: about it, it's, you know, no one knows what the
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: future is going to look like. And we really don't
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: know what the past was. We can guess at it
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: and we have records and all that, but it's, it's still,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: it's always a mirror on our times now and what we're,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: the state we're in and how we can do better.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about you
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: and Wu and give you some unconditional love?
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that. Uh, I can start at my website,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Ken Ballen.com K E N B A L L E N.com
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: all one word. And there's plenty of, uh, uh, reading
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: material there about the book and you can buy it.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: It's not out yet, but it will be out soon. And, uh,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: I urge everyone to read it.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's a learning experience. In fact, it is a,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: you know, and let's take the learning out of it
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: because that'll scare people away. It is an experience. This
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: is a conversational book and that's what, what you have
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: put in forward motion here.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I, I appreciate that and I hope so. And
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: it is a book. It's, it's, it's supposed to engage
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: the reader and I, I, Want the reader engaged in
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: every page, and I'm not going to give away any spoilers.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of unanticipated events that happen in the book,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: and it has politics and music, and it's a dog
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: lover's dream, and there's a love story. Everything else you
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: can imagine, which you cannot imagine it. is in this book.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: You got to come back to this show anytime in
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the future, Ken. I love where your heart is. I
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: love how you're getting the word out there in so
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: many different forms. I call that hidden speak. And this
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: is definitely one of those books where you're taking the
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: realism of the world and you're giving it an opportunity.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: You're giving it that Roman Gabriel kind of a twist.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: And you're saying, hey, look, just twist it a bit
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: and now share a story. And that's exactly what you've done.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I appreciate it. That's what I was
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: trying to do. So I'm glad that worked with you
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: and I hope it works with other readers.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Okay, sir. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.